Until recently, most people shopped in local “brick and mortar” stores. As online shopping became a possibility, people were initially skeptical and felt uncomfortable providing personal information and credit cards to online vendors.
Security problems once thought to be a problem only for online vendors have become common place for “brick and “mortar” stores as cyber criminals have breached customer information for “brick and mortar” stores. Meanwhile, online transactions are growing exponentially. Customer fears regarding the security of information when shopping is still present, and growing. As more and more sales are moving online, vendors are turning to different options to drive online sales. Some of these options include partnering with third parties to generate sales leads, send out email advertisements, and process financial transactions. However, others have created their own websites and may process their own transactions.
Many vendors turn to Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or something similar. However, many of these offerings are lacking in security for the vendor and the customer. Additionally, vendors are typically uncomfortable with relying totally on outside companies for a vast part of their online presence. Methods and apparatus are desired for secure new card/user registration for customers, which can provide online vendors greater control.